Calculation of Torque for Drive Pulley of Roller Conveyor

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around calculating the torque required for the drive pulley of a roller conveyor, focusing on the parameters of the conveyor system, including its dimensions, load, and motor specifications. Participants explore various approaches to determine the torque, considering factors such as friction and load dynamics.

Discussion Character

  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant requests assistance in calculating the torque for a drive pulley, providing specific details about the conveyor's length, speed, load, and motor specifications.
  • Another participant mentions that power can be expressed as linear speed times force and rotational speed times torque, suggesting a relationship between these quantities.
  • A participant highlights the challenge of estimating the required torque due to the difficulty in determining friction, referencing a company that assumes a friction coefficient of 1.0 for their conveyor systems.
  • Further clarification is provided on the equations to use, emphasizing the need to equate linear speed times force with rotational speed times torque to solve for torque.
  • One participant calculates the torque at the motor based on the motor's power and RPM, estimating the output torque at the drive pulley after accounting for gearbox reduction, while noting that actual torque may vary due to factors like starting torque and load dynamics.
  • Concerns are raised about potential spikes in torque due to sudden load changes or emergencies, suggesting that additional information about friction and load behavior is necessary for accurate calculations.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express varying levels of certainty regarding the calculations and assumptions involved. There is no consensus on the exact torque value due to differing opinions on friction and load behavior, indicating that multiple competing views remain.

Contextual Notes

Participants note limitations in the information available for calculating torque, particularly regarding friction coefficients and the dynamic behavior of loads on the conveyor. The discussion reflects a reliance on assumptions that may not be universally applicable.

hardja
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Anyone can help me to calculate the Torque for Drive Pulley of Rolling Conveyor?
The details below:
- Roller Conveyor : length = 18m (speed of the belt conveyor is 2.5m / sec)
- Conveyor consists of 25 roller, 1 drive pulley & 1 tail pulley
- Total load of the conveyor : 5,500 kg

To move the conveyor, we install Drive Pulley with diameter of 550mm, and connected to Gear Box (RPM = 95) + Motor (5,5 HP ; RPM 1,500)

How do we calculate how much is the Torque of the Drive Pulley?
 
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Power is linear speed times force. (F v)
Also, it's also rotational speed times torque (2πf τ)
where f is revs per second

You just put these on the sides of an equation and put in what you know to what you want to find out.
 
It is difficult to find the torque required because you need to know friction, which is difficult to estimate. A company I know who makes conveyors for large animal cages assumes a friction coefficient of 1.0, in other words if you hang the load off the side the conveyor and tilt the machine up, it would be strong enough to lift it vertically.
 
sophiecentaur said:
Power is linear speed times force. (F v)
Also, it's also rotational speed times torque (2πf τ)
where f is revs per second

You just put these on the sides of an equation and put in what you know to what you want to find out.

Can you help which equation I should use?
I'm new with conveyor matters but got a job that asked me to install Belt Conveyor.

Appreciate your help.
 
hardja said:
Can you help which equation I should use?
I'm new with conveyor matters but got a job that asked me to install Belt Conveyor.

Appreciate your help.

Sorry - that was a Maths thing. What I meant was that you put those two expressions equal to each other - which makes an equation. So
Linear speed times force = rotational speed times torque
You know everything but the torque so you take rotational speed onto the other side to get the torque:
Torque = linear speed times force / rotational speed
(not forgetting the 2pi in my other post and to convert rpm into revs per second)
That should do it.
 
When you posted this Question on another thread I answered as follows...

Do you happen to know if a 5.5hp motor is powerful enough for this job? If you do then you can estimate the max torque assuming the motor is delivering 5.5HP at 1500rpm...

5.5 HP = 4125W

1500rpm = 157 Radians/second

So the torque at the motor is 4125/157 = 26Nm

The gearbox reduces rpm and multiplies the torque so torque at the output of the gearbox/drive pulley should be something like..

26 * 1500/95 = 410Nm

But that could be greatly exceeded. I can think of a lot of ways the torque could be higher for periods of time. Some examples..

Depending on the type of motor and how it's controlled the starting torque might be much higher.

You say the load is 5500kg. The transit time is 18/2.5 = 7.2 seconds. So every second 760kg is being dumped on one end of the conveyor belt and has to be accelerated to 2.5m/s. If the load is lumpy the torque might spike higher?

What happens if the belt with 5500Kg on it has to be stopped in a hurry or there is a power cut?

I'm not an expert on these systems. Google found a guide to the basics. Looks complicated to me.

http://www.krk.com.br/html/produtos/phoenix/Design_Fundamentals.pdf

As others have said.. I don't think you have enough information to calculate it any other way. You need info on the friction in the rollers etc when carrying 5500KG. Ask the manufacturer perhaps?
 
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